Biography
Madeline Dierauf is a folk musician from Brevard, North Carolina. A sought-after Bluegrass, Old-time, and Irish fiddler, she is a founding member of Appalachian group The Wilder Flower (with Molly Johnson), Baltimore-based Irish traditional trio The East Coasters, and a duo project with multi-instrumentalist Jackson Grimm. Growing up in Brevard, Madeline Dierauf listened to and learned a diverse range of folk music and was immersed in the cultural traditions of Appalachia and beyond, through mentorship from Beanie O’Dell, Ellen Lee at the Mountain School of Strings, and Nicky Sanders. After picking up the fiddle in third grade, she was winning talent shows by age ten, and played her first gigs around age 14 with (generous) local musicians like Josh Carter, Elizabeth Bahnson, and Owen Grooms. In 2020, she released her debut EP, Walk On By, with producer Mike Ashworth, and in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026, she wrote for and fiddled on albums for Pretty Little Goat, Dave Desmelik, and Susto String Band. Most recently, she released albums of original and traditional music with The Wilder Flower and The East Coasters.
Meanwhile, as an English major at Davidson College, her scholarly work combined literary and archival research with folk traditions (for Professor Hudson Vincent) and examined our ethical responsibilities in the modern technological world (mentored by the wonderful Professor Maria Fackler): to the environment, to other people, and to human arts and knowledge. Madeline is passionate about the power of art and music for self expression, understanding, and community building, and creatively engages with many different traditional genres and forms in her fiddling and thinking. As a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Madeline will first read for a Master's in English and American Studies, then a Master's in Music; through these she hopes to further her work in cultural studies and community building while exploring the trans-Atlantic influences that shape Appalachia today. Ultimately, she will wield her experiences working and living in a politically diverse region alongside rigorous academic cultural study to understand how folk arts can create a meeting place in Appalachia for people of all political, educational, artistic, and demographic backgrounds.
Madeline plays festivals such as Merlefest (in 2019 with the Steep Canyon Rangers, 2023 with Pretty Little Goat, and 2025 with The Wilder Flower), Mountain Song Festival, the Earl Scruggs Music Festival (2023 and 2024 with The Wilder Flower, 2025 with Travis Book String Band), GreyFox Bluegrass Festival, and FreshGrass Festival. Madeline was the 2020 and 2022 South Carolina State Fiddling Champion. She received the Fujita Arts Grant at Davidson College to independently study regional folk music in Ireland and Northern Ireland during the summer of 2024, and travelled to seven different towns with fiddle in tow. She currently plays nationally with bands including The Wilder Flower, The East Coasters, Jackson Grimm, Susto, Holler Choir, Travis Book String Band, and Pretty Little Goat.
Photo from Christopher Record, Davidson College